The invention relates to apparatus for cooking raw product, such as shrimp and other shellfish, and, more particularly, to a steam cooker for cooking shrimp continuously transported by a conveyor through a steam-filled cooking chamber.
Cooking shrimp and other shellfish in a continuous cooking process is well known. In cooking shrimp, for instance, raw, uncooked shrimp in a feed tank are deposited on an endless conveyor belt that lifts the shrimp out of the tank into and through a cooking compartment in which the shrimp are cooked. At the exit end of the cooking compartment, the cooked shrimp drop from the conveyor belt for further processing.
The benefits of cooking shrimp and other products in a pure saturated steam environment at 100° C. and atmospheric pressure are also known. But to yield maximum benefits, the steam-filled cooking chamber must be free of air currents and unintended steam leaks that disturb the pure saturated steam environment in the cooking compartment by contaminating it with air. Adequate sealing of the cooking chamber is especially difficult in a cooker with a conveyor continuously transporting product into and out of the cooking compartment.
It is also important that cookers be easy to clean and service. Often a removable housing covers the cooking compartment. The cover is raised to admit access to the cooking compartment. But, when the cover is lowered during the cooking process, the interface between the cover and the rest of the cooker is a prime source of steam leaks. Rubber seals are used to prevent these leaks, but are subject to wear over time.
Thus, there is a need for an easy-to-clean steam cooker capable of maintaining a pure steam cooking environment for cooking product in a continuous, high-volume cooking process.